Consumer feedback
Patient-centred care is a key priority across the NSW public health system. Consumer feedback - from patients, families and carers – is actively encouraged to help monitor and improve services provided across NSW Health.
Elevating the Human Experience: Our guide to action for patient, family, carer and caregiver experiences outlines how NSW Health will improve the human experience in the NSW public health system to transform health services into a human-centred health system.
By partnering with patients and acknowledging the powerful voice of consumers, NSW Health will set new standards for excellence in human experiences - for every person, every time. The CEC's Person Centred Care program supports local health districts to:
- Include patients and family as care team members
- Improve consumer engagement,
- Promote safety and quality in health care.
Encouraging staff to work together with patients and families when providing care improves communication and results in a better experience of care.
Under NSW Health’s Complaint Management Policy (PD2020_013) feedback - including complaints, compliments and observations/suggestions - received by patients, their families/carers or relatives/visitors are recorded in ims+.
Health services can receive consumer feedback in several ways including, in person, by telephone, online, or by letter/email. Staff can also submit feedback directly received on behalf of patients, carers, relatives or visitors. Consumer feedback provides valuable insights that can be used to improve healthcare services aligned to the NSW Health Core Values and ultimately, to improve the experience and outcome for the people of NSW.
Complaints, allegations or grievances made by staff about other staff members are not recorded as consumer feedback. Any incident or injury affecting a staff member is documented separately as a worker specific incident. An overview of the complaints management process is provided below.
Source: NSW Health Complaints Management PD2020_013
Analysing patient experience data improves the ability of health care organisations to detect system-wide issues in care. Improvement programs can be implemented locally and across NSW to address issues identified through the range of feedback received by health services.
This report is based on consumer feedback received and managed through ims+. Data from St Vincent’s Health Network (SVHN) are included in overall figures only. Due to changes in complaint classification, data is not comparable to reports before 2021.
During the July - December 2024 reporting period, 16,731 consumer feedback reports were submitted by patients, their families or carers.
Overall, consumer feedback reports have increased over time, largely driven by a rise in compliments submitted by patients, families and carers. Figure 24 provides feedback volume by reporting period.
Figure 24.
*Consumer feedback data obtained from NSW public hospitals and St Vincent's Health Network. Excludes private hospitals.
Types of consumer feedback received
Consumer feedback can be submitted directly by patients, families and carers through the NSW Health Portal or notified by staff in ims+ on their behalf. When feedback is received, notifiers can select the most significant type of feedback that is being reported.
- Complaint about services received
- Compliment about the service/treatment received from a health care team or an individual staff member or
- Suggestion or observation for improvement
Overall figures for the January 2021 - December 2024 reporting period are provided below.
Figure 25.
*Consumer feedback data obtained from NSW public hospitals and St Vincent’s Health Network. Excludes private hospitals. Excludes records that selected two or more feedback type or records that were not allocated to a specific category at the time of data extract. *Category includes ideas submitted.
During the July - December 2024 reporting period, 50 per cent of consumer feedback reports received related to complaints, followed by 48 per cent compliments and 2 per cent suggestions or observations.
Figure 26.
*Consumer feedback data obtained from NSW public hospitals and St Vincent’s Health Network. Excludes private hospitals. Excludes records that selected two or more feedback types or records that were not allocated to a specific category at the time of data extract. *Category includes ideas submitted
Method of contact
Consumer feedback - complaints, compliments and suggestions or observations - can be received by health services in a number of ways.
- in person,
- by letter/email,
- through the NSW Health Portal or
- by telephone contact.
The method of contact is recorded when feedback is received by the health service. From July – December 2024, consumer feedback was communicated by letter or email (55 per cent), by telephone (19 per cent), in person (19 per cent) and via the NSW Health Portal (7 per cent).
Figure 27.
*Includes Consumer Feedback records that contained a response. Excludes St Vincent’s Health Network and private hospitals
Requested outcome by consumer/carer
The outcome requested by a consumer or carer is captured during the complaints management process. This field is optional and allows more than one option to be selected.
During the July – December 2024 period, the most requested outcomes related to receiving an explanation, an action to prevent a recurrence and receiving an apology from the health service.
Figure 28 provides a breakdown by outcomes requested by consumers, patients or their carers.
Figure 28.
*Includes Consumer Feedback records that contained a response. Note one or more options can be selected within a single consumer feedback report. This field is not mandatory for completion. Excludes St Vincent’s Health Network and private hospitals.
Final mechanism of resolution
Each consumer feedback record captures the resolution provided for feedback that was received, which may differ from the outcome requested by the consumer or carer. The most common resolutions during the July – December 2024 reporting period included offering an apology or explanation to the patient or carer and further discussions between the health service and the patient and or carer.
Figure 29 provides a breakdown of outcomes requested by consumers, patients or their carer.
Figure 29.
*Includes Consumer Feedback records that contained a response. Note one or more options can be selected within a single consumer feedback report. This field is not mandatory for completion. Excludes St Vincent’s Health Network and private hospitals.
Complaints received
Complaints received by health services highlights consumer or carer concerns regarding care delivery. More than one option to be selected in each consumer feedback report.
Complaint volumes have remained stable over time. Figure 30 provides complaints volume by reporting period.
Figure 30.
In July – December 2024, key themes identified in complaints related to Clinical Care Treatment and Safety (39 per cent) and Communication (28 per cent). These themes are consistent across complaints, compliments and suggestions/observations.
Figure 31.
*Includes Consumer Feedback records that contained a response. Note one or more options can be selected within a single consumer feedback report. This field is not mandatory for completion. Excludes St Vincent’s Health Network and private hospitals.
Each identified issue can be further detailed to identify issues around the type of care received. Key complaints elements for July – December 2024 are shown in the figure below.
Figure 32.
*Includes Consumer Feedback records that contained a response. Note one or more options can be selected within a single consumer feedback report. This field is not mandatory for completion. Excludes St Vincent’s Health Network and private hospitals.
Compliments received
Compliments received by health services have steadily increased over time. Figure 33 provides compliment volumes by reporting period.
Figure 33.
Like complaints, compliments highlight specific issues regarding care delivery received by patients. More than one option can be selected within a single report received.
In July - December 2024, 82 per cent related to the clinical, treatment and safety and 11 per cent for the communication received.
Figure 34.
*Includes Consumer Feedback records that contained a response. Note one or more options can be selected within a single consumer feedback report. This field is not mandatory for completion. Excludes St Vincent’s Health Network and private hospitals.
Each compliment can be broken down by issue and type of care received. In July – December 2024, the main elements identified related to the coordination of patient care and attitude/conduct of the clinician or team providing patient care.
Suggestions and observations received
Consumers and their carers are encouraged to share suggestions and observations about the treatment and care they receive. These insights help identify areas for improvement. A summary of key themes emerging from this feedback is provided below. Figure 35 provides suggestion and observation volumes by reporting period.
Figure 35.
Figure 36.
The main elements identified in suggestions or observations received during July – December 2024 related to the communication between consumers/carers and clinical teams as well as service availability and delays.
*Includes Consumer Feedback records that contained a response. Note one or more options can be selected within a single consumer feedback report. This field is not mandatory for completion. Excludes St Vincent’s Health Network and private hospitals.